Portugal's attack makes every opponent at EURO 2024 wary

Of the 24 teams that qualified for EURO 2024, Portugal is the representative with the strongest attack. Roberto Martinez's army has won all 10 matches, scoring a total of 36 goals, 7 more than the other teams. Not only that, they lead all parameters such as: shots on target (81), expected goals (28.8), shots (190), chances created (47) and touches in the opponent's penalty area (405).

Portugal's EURO 2024 qualifying campaign was a success. Photo: Opta Analyst

Ahead of EURO 2024, the “European Selecao” also had a perfect start when scoring 9 goals in 3 friendly matches. In addition to Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese team’s attack also has Rafael Leao, Bernardo Silva, Joao Felix, Pedro Neto, Diogo Jota and Goncalo Ramos.

Among the names mentioned above, Bernardo Silva is the striker with the most successful 2023-2024 season, having just won the Premier League championship for the 4th consecutive time with Manchester City. According to statistics, the striker born in 1994 has 12 goals and 10 assists in all competitions for The Citizens, with an impressive conversion rate from shots to goals (18.5%).

In addition, Silva also created an average of 2.02 chances from open play situations every 90 minutes, a number that ranked above Phil Foden (2.01) - the best player in the Premier League 2023-2024.

Bernardo Silva enjoyed a successful season at Manchester City. Photo: Opta Analyst

Alongside Bernardo Silva is Joao Felix. Although he did not have a successful season with Barcelona on a collective level, the striker born in 1999 had an impressive performance both for the national team and the club. In his first season with Barca, Felix had 10 goals and 6 assists. In La Liga alone, only Robert Lewandowski (19 goals) and Fermin Lopez (8 goals) scored more goals than Joao Felix (7 goals) for Blaugrana.

Felix has been even more impressive in the national team, scoring three goals from 19 shots. Only Ronaldo (46) and Bruno Fernandes (22) had more shots than Felix in the EURO 2024 qualifiers. The Barca star has been an integral part of Roberto Martinez's side, appearing in eight of the 10 qualifying games.

Similar to Felix, Rafael Leao also had an unsuccessful season at AC Milan. However, the 1999-born winger is still one of the players who created the most chances from open play in Serie A (56 chances). This number is only behind Matias Soule (65) and Matteo Politano (57).

Rafael Leao still has an impressive performance and is considered a potential danger in the Portuguese national team's attack. Photo: Opta Analyst

Diogo Jota has endured a difficult time at Liverpool, having missed most of the season due to injury. Despite this, the 27-year-old has still been a fantastic goalscorer, scoring 15 goals with an expected goals (xG) of 8.8. Statistically, only eight players in Europe's top five leagues with at least 20 appearances have had a better record than Jota.

After a period of injury, Jota returned at the right time and shone in both friendly matches before EURO 2024 against Finland and Croatia. This will certainly be a particularly effective personnel option for Martinez, as Jota can play well in the role of an inside forward or left forward.

Similarly, Pedro Neto will miss most of the 2023-2024 season due to a hamstring injury. However, the Wolves striker still managed to score 2 goals and provide 10 assists in the Premier League, behind only Ollie Watkins (13 assists) and Cole Palmer (11 assists) despite both having more playing time.

In addition to Pedro Neto, Goncalo Ramos is also a name worth waiting for with 11 goals, the striker in the top 5 European leagues in 2023-2024 with the most goals for the Portuguese team. However, Portuguese media assessed that Ramos will most likely be a backup plan when Martinez continues to trust Ronaldo.

Source: https://laodong.vn/bong-da-quoc-te/hang-cong-bo-dao-nha-khien-moi-doi-thu-tai-euro-2024-phai-de-chung-1354347.ldo